"It is a very difficult juggling act for everyone right now," said West, who plans to convene a summit with private shelters in November to try to resolve some of their issues before more turn their backs on townships. Even now, she said, some humane officers must drive more than an hour to reach a shelter that will accept a township stray.
"It is something we are seeing happen in various locations around the country," said Inga Fricke, director of sheltering initiatives at the Humane Society of the United States.
Euthanizing animals "is a black eye against an organization," said Roseann Trezza, executive director of the Associated Humane Societies of New Jersey, a state where, she said, a lot of shelters are retrenching.
About 75 percent of all cats and 61 percent of all dogs entering shelters are euthanized, according to the New Jersey Office of Animal Welfare.
Trezza said municipalities don't want to pay the shelters the full cost of handling, housing, and - when they cannot be adopted - euthanizing stray animals. Plus, nonprofit shelters find it easier to get donations if they call themselves "no kill."
And then there is the toll that euthanasia takes on staffers.
Karel Minor remembers the days his employees at the Humane Society of Berks County would be sobbing in corners after they had to euthanize more than 100 healthy cats in one day just to make room for more strays.
"I can't ask the staff to go back to that. It is just not right," said Minor, executive director. The shelter dropped animal-control contracts from the state and municipalities in 2008.
The decision the Pennsylvania shelters have made highlights a wrinkle in the state's dog law.
